New Zealand is home to the most breathtaking nature I've seen.
22.10.2024 - 22:23 / cntraveler.com
Wellington, New Zealand straddles one of the world’s great natural harbors. It's a vibrant capital city, gently nestled along the corrugated landscape that rises from the water to meet the 650-foot ridgelines of Matairangi (also known Mount Victoria). As stunning as it was to observe this scene from the Interislander ferry port, I had to wonder what I was doing here: I came to embark on a nearly two-week long Great Journeys New Zealand train trip. But this was where the adventure was to commence—aboard a 1350-passenger sea vessel, with nary a track nor train car in sight.
It turns out, KiwiRail, the state-owned train operator behind Great Journeys New Zealand, had purchased the Interislander ferry service back in 2008. As an alternative to tunneling track beneath the Cook Strait, this is a far cheaper and easier method to bridge the maritime gap between North Island and South Island. It also affords a far more majestic route: the 57-mile journey from Wellington to Picton shuttles passengers through the Marlborough Sounds and is one of the most spectacular crossings I’ve ever witnessed.
By the time I disembarked, some 3.5 hours later, it had become clear that trains would merely serve as springboards on my ensuing 11-day journey; a means to a multitude of scenic ends. The rail network would connect me with so many other exciting modes of transit—including ferry, bus, jet boat, steamship, fixed-wing prop plane, and helicopter.
I'm on a trip organized by Great Journeys—the tourism arm of Kiwi Rail—which offers over a dozen high-end tours linking New Zealand's five long-distance train routes with overnight hotel stays and on-the-ground activities. I opted for the “Spectacular South” itinerary from Wellington to Queenstown, combining two legs of the Coastal Pacific and Tranzalpine routes. The all-inclusive $5,500 price tag covers accommodations, excursions, and meals.
While Kiwi Rail is no luxury sleeper train, Great Journeys just rolled out new “Scenic Plus” carriages this year to kick things up a notch. The revamped train cars feature panoramic windows, interior flourishes—such as lighting fixtures and furnishings designed by Maori artists—and an upgraded dining package built around a paddock-to-plate concept, where regional food and drink is served while the train passes through the areas that produce everything on your plate.
The 11-day “Spectacular South” itinerary with Great Journeys begins in Wellington and ends in Queenstown, pictured above.
Throughout my traveling life, I have met extended train excursions with a certain degree of resistance (indeed, this was by far the longest itinerary I had ever done by rail). Although there is an undeniable romantic charm to watching the world literally roll
New Zealand is home to the most breathtaking nature I've seen.
Saying goodbye to a loved one just got more difficult at a small New Zealand airport. The Dunedin Airport in the country’s southern end recently posted an advisory sign warning travelers not to hug for more than three minutes in the departure zone. «Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the car park,» the sign reads in the drop-off zone area. The airport updated their drop-off policy in September 2024, in an effort to prevent traffic jams caused by lingering cars. «We wanted to have a bit of fun with this,» Dunedin Airport CEO Daniel De Bono shared in an interview with a local radio station. «It's really about enabling enough space for others to have hugs.” The airport says that three minutes for a hug is plenty of time, and that a 20-second hug is the average length. The somewhat joking, but serious looking sign, has caused a social media conversation with travelers sounding off on the new advisory. »How much is the fine if I hug longer??" one person shared on Reddit, with another person just commenting «Bruh.»
Airports and emotional farewells go hand-in-hand, but one hub in New Zealand is cracking down on public displays of affection.
We all know the sadness of dropping our loved ones off at the airport, especially if it's the last time you'll be seeing them for a while. But for travelers at Dunedin Airport, hugs during those heartfelt goodbyes could now be cut short.
Nunavik is one of our Best Places to Go in North America in 2024, part of our global guide to the Best Places to Go in 2024—find even more travel inspiration here.
Oct 21, 2024 • 11 min read
Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us and terms apply to offers listed (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate credit cards to write unbiased product reviews.
Qatar Airways operated its first flight equipped with Elon Musk’s Starlink from Doha to London on Tuesday.
Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us and terms apply to offers listed (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate credit cards to write unbiased product reviews.
Escape with Elsewhere: Click here for the chance to win $10,000 for the ultimate dream trip
Royal Caribbean Group is opening a new port in Juneau, Alaska, a move it claims will help disperse foot traffic in the city’s downtown as residents continue to debate the cost and benefits of cruise ships.
The years-long bureaucratic tangles that plagued passport renewals and first-time applications since the pandemic are finally over. Not only have US passport processing times bounced back to pre-pandemic rates—they're the shortest they've been in years.